A Breviary of All the Greatest Persecutions, Title page 1 – Prayer
Brachy-Martyrologia: OR, A BREVIARY Of all the greateſt PERSECUTIONS Which have befallen the Saints and People of God From the Creation to our preſent Times: PARAPHRAS'D, By Nicholas Billingſly, Of Mert. Col. Oxon.
Pſal. 44. 22. For thy ſake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as ſheep for the ſlaughters.
Nil crus ſentit in nervo, cum animus eſt in coelo. Tertul.
Naz. contra Ar. p. 113. foreign.
LONDON, Printed by J. Cottrel, for Tho: Johnſon, at the Key in Paul's Church-yard. 1657.
To the Right Worſhipful, JEREMY MARTIN Doctor of Phyſick in Bristol,
All
Internal
External
Eternal
Happineſs.
Honoured Sir,
I Am not ignorant that we now live in as cenſorious an age as even the Sun ſhin'd on; wherein there are not a few that will ſnap and ſnarle at the politeſt lines, and refined'ſt inventions whatſoever; (when perhaps the matter is too deep, for the ſhort line of their Judgements to ſound the bottom of:) What hard meaſure then I am like to have, for ſuffering this my naked and incult Muſe to venture abroad on the open ſtage, I am not a little ſenſible of. But yet, becauſe private benefits, do often call for publick acknowledgements, I will not be aſhamed to let the world know, I am exceedingly engaged to you; nor could I be contented till I had made ſome part of amends for your received favours; Preſuming that your Heroick minde, ſweet nature, and generous diſpoſition, will reſpect more (Artaxerxes-like) the inward Affection, then the outward Action. Be pleas'd therefore, Noble Sir, to perſiſt ſtill in your wonted goodneſs, and favourably accept of that in the birth, which your encouragements furthered in the conception. The ſubject I confeſs is Divine (as treating of a Buſh all in a flame, yet not conſumed; enough to dazle our eyes with its aſtoniſhing glory) and therefore deferves to be better handled, by a more Graphical Paraphraſt then my ſelf: And if my jangling toll in better ringers, I ſhall be glad of it; In the mean, I will let my green fruits ripen under the Sun-ſhine of your judicious Eye: and though my lines (like old Pewter) ſeem dull for want of ſcowring; yet may they receive a gloſs from your reſplendent Name. Pythagoras was of opinion,Aelian. Var Hiſt. l. 12. p. 343. that two things (and they from above) made a man truly glorious; the one was, To conceive aright of things; the other was, To know how to be beneficial to others. Sweet Sir, I will not flatter you (for I am confident you do not deſire it, chuſing rather to be too modeſtly ſpoken of, then to be mounted on the wings of Popular applauſe) but I dare ſay, you are endowed with both: You have affected to be acquainted with the natures of moſt (may I ſay all?) diſeaſes; and have effected (God making your undertakings ſuccesful) as rare cures as ever any, I will except none. I cannot ſtand to ſpecifie them; this one ſhall ſerve for all: Your eminent skill in recovering Epileptical maladies, is ſufficiently known to many. What ſhall I ſay of my ſelf in particular? am not I bound to bleſs God, ſince firſt I had the happineſs to be acquainted with you? Have not I great cauſe to admire (and, if I may ſo ſay, adore you for) your profound judgment, your excellent ability, and ſingular care, ſo oportunely exerciſed towards me your Patient, in the raiſing up of my infirm body, even then, when I had paſſed the ſentence of death upon my ſelf, and was thought, in the eyes of all, irrecoverable? I were unworthy to live, if I did not.
Theodoricus, Aeneas Syl. Com: lib. de geſtis Alphonſi.an Archbiſhop of Colen, being demanded by Sigiſmund the Emperor, of the directeſt courſe to Happineſs; Perform (ſaid he) when thou art well, what thou promiſedst when thou wast ſick. This puts me in minde of a double engagement which I made in the time of my calamity; Firſt, to God Almighty, That I would endeavour, if he but pleaſed to ſpare me my life, to devote my ſelf wholly to his fear, and walk more obediently before him, then I had formerly done: Next to you, as the onelyonly inſtrument in the hand of God, for the repairing of the ruinous walls of my fleſhly Tenement, I promiſed to agnize it, ſo long as I liv'd. I beſeech God, that theſe promiſes may be the prodromes of ſeconding performances▪ I pray Sir, give me leave to tell you, you are the onelyonly man living, whom I ſuperlatively honour, not onelyonly for your learning and knowledge (though that were enough to convince me) but for your ineſtimable Vertues; as Temperance, Humility, &c. which are as ſo many ſparkling Ornaments, and Orient Pearls, to enrich and illuſtrate the very place you come in. To ſpeak nothing of your Piety, that onelyonly will commend you in the eyes of God. I might ſay, and ſay truly, that you are ſuch a common good to your Country, that good men love you, and all men admire you: but I will not gild Gold; neither may I think that bright Phaebus beams can be the more increaſed by the preſenting of a ſilly Taper: nay, I am ſomewhat conſcious to my ſelf of eclipſing the great Luminary of your ſerene worth, with the obumbration of a Timanthaean veil.
If I have herein offended, it is againſt my will; I am ſorry for it; and I hope your ingenuity will pardon me, laying the fault on the defects of my Youth, as being not over-burthened with Ciceronian Eloquence. But what though I cannot cloathe my minde in ſuch fine airy garments, nor adorn my Paper with ſuch Rhetorical jewels as others can? yet may I as deeply engrave you on the Marble Tablet of my fidelious breſt, as any, while I am,
Sir, The eLeVenth Day of March MDCLV. Your Honours very humble, thankful, and much obliged ſervant, Nich: Billingſly.
To the Reader.
Courteous Reader,
THey that cannot have leiſure to take a full ſurvey of Countries themſelves, may yet ſee ſomewhat to their content, in the Geographical Maps and deſcriptions of others. Thou haſt here preſented to thy view, the Book of Martyrs in a little room; which is already extant, though in a larger extent. Now if the Tyrannie of thine affairs are ſo imperious, or the Weakneſs of thy purſe ſo injurious, as to impede thy peruſal of the Hiſtory of the Church (which is abſolutely the beſt (ſave one) in the Chriſtian world,) either in the voluminous works of the Laborious (now with God) Mr. Fox; or in the conciſer Collections of that Reverend Divine and Famous Martyrologist (ſtill with us) Mr. Clark (out of whoſe Garden I have gathered this Poſie of flowers:) Thou may'ſt (if it pleaſe thee) accept of this Breviary, which will not coſt much mony in the buying, and but a little time in the reading. Herein thou may'ſt ſee (though briefly, yet not obſcurely) the goodneſs of God, in maintaining and preſerving to himſelf throughout all Ages, a peculiar People, zealous of good works, notwithſtanding all their confronting enemies whatſoever: and though boyſtrous guſts of Temptation, have ever toſſed the Saints up and down, on the raging billowes of Perſecution; Yet have they alwayes held up their heads above water: The more theſe Grapes have been preſſed, the more Wine have they yielded; Juniper burnt ſmells ſavouriest, ſo do they; Chamomile trod, growes faſtest, ſo do they; pounded Spices ſmell ſweeteſt, ſo do they. Affliction is Gods furnace; the Saints are Gold put into it, not to be conſumed, but to return more glorious. That ſaying, Veritas premi poteſt, opprimi nunqam, Truth may be blam'd, but never ſham'd, herein is verifi'd. Though Antiochus commanded the Book of Gods Law to be burnt in the fire, and cut in pieces, making it death for any man to keep it by him: Though Diocleſian cauſed them to be burned in the ſtreets, and made the Churches and houſes of God even with the ground (as Euſeb. Lib. 8. Cap. 4. hath it) the more it hath been ſuppreſſed, the more it hath ſpread and encreaſed, to the ſpiritual edification of the houſe of God, whereof Jeſus Chriſt is the Corner-Stone. Hierom in his Epiſtle to Cormatius, reports, That in an whole years ſpace, there paſſed not one day (the Calends of January excepted) wherein five thouſand Chriſtians were not made away with. And—But I will not detain thee (Gentle Reader) in my Porch like a ſtranger, leſt I be thought churliſh. Well then, in a few words (for I will not now ſtand to ſtrain complements with thee) I have made no great preparation for thee: And if thou wilt be pleaſed to accept of ſuch poor entertainment as my Muſe is able to afford thee, ſhe gives thee an invitation, Come in, fall to, eat freely with a good will, and thou art heartily welcome: But if thy dainty palate be ſo nice, as to make thee hanker after the moſt exquiſit diſhes and coſtli'st viands that can be got for love or mony; I tell thee truly (friend) I han't it for thee, thou had'ſt beſt go where ſuch is to be had; and that is all the harm I wiſh thee; and ſo I bid thee
Farewel.
In Amici ſui chariſſimi NICH O LAI BILLINGSLY Brachy-hagio-Martyrologiam Distichon Panegyricum.
Hîc magnum in parvo; veterū Monument a virorū, Et Mortem & Mores (candide Lector) habes.
IT skills no leſs large Tomest' Epitomize,
Then at the firſt the ſame for to deviſe.
'Twas Homers praiſe his Iliads to indite,
Anothers in a Nut-ſhell them to write.
Like worth belongs to thee, & to thy book;
Wherein (as in an Optick) if we look,
We may at once more briefly far behold,
What Fox, and others, have at large us told,
Touching ſuch Martyrs as did live and die
I'th' faith of Chriſt; whoſe ſacred memory
Thou do'ſt receive, that they on earth again
May live with us, we'n heaven with them may raign.
God grant us this; and ſo to make an end,
Thou them, I thee, cannot too much commend.
Aug. 11. 1656. T. C. de Oſpringe Cleri…
DEO Opt. Max.
GReat God, who graſp'ſt in thine eternal fiſts
The world, & boundest with appointed liſts
The ſwag'ring billowes; thou who haſt enroll'd
Thy Marble Gallery with ſtuds of Gold,
Whoſe throne the face-veild Seraphims on high
Advance above the Porph'ry-Arched skie;
Who all things did'ſt, and do' ſt, and wilt fulfill,
According to the counſel of thy will:
O ſhew thy power in thy ſervant weak,
Rouze my dull Muſe, enable her to ſpeak
Divinely of thy Saints, that in this ſtory
The World (as in a glaſs) may ſee thy glory.
Finiſh this work, this work in thee begun,
And make it live, when I am dead and gon.
Thoſe looſer Poets who begin betimes
To pleaſe vain fancies with laſcivious Rhimes,
Thinking there by to eternize their name,
What do they leave but Monuments of ſhame?
Their works ſhall rot; while ſuch as have a ſure
Foundation, ſhall eternally endure.
Let no man deck with Apollinean Bayes
My browes; thine be the Glory, thine the Praiſe.